Macklemore responds to criticism over pro-Palestinian speech at Ed Sheeran concerts in New Jersey
Macklemore has responded to a wave of criticism over his pro-Palestinian messages at Ed Sheeran's concerts in New Jersey, saying that his criticism of Israeli policy is not directed against Jews and that he sees his message as a call for peace, equality and the dignity of all people. The American rapper, whose real name is Benjamin Hammond Haggerty, performed on September 4 and 5 as one of the opening acts ahead of Sheeran's LOOP tour concerts at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford. During his performance, he called for a "free Palestine", spoke about civilians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, and performed the protest song "Hind's Hall". His words prompted divided reactions from the audience and sharp criticism from some Jewish and pro-Israel organizations, which called on Sheeran to remove Macklemore from the remaining U.S. dates of the tour. According to reports by Variety, the Los Angeles Times and CBS New York, the rapper subsequently stressed publicly that advocating equal treatment for all people should not be controversial.
An important timing detail in the entire controversy is that Macklemore posted his response on social media on September 7 local time, while on September 8 leading U.S. and international media outlets reported in detail on his reaction and the continuation of the controversy. In a recording of the speech that he reshared, he told Jewish listeners that, in his view, criticism of Israel and its policies does not constitute criticism of Jews as a people or religious community. "My message is for peace", he said, emphasizing that all people should be treated with dignity, respect and equality. In doing so, he did not withdraw his earlier statements or apologize for the political content of the performance, but instead tried to clearly separate criticism of a state and its policies from hostility toward Jewish people. That distinction became the central point of his response to accusations that his performance had crossed the line between political activism and antisemitism.
What Macklemore said at MetLife Stadium
According to recordings of the performance and media reports, during the first concert on September 4 Macklemore told the audience that one of the reasons he wanted to join Sheeran's tour was the opportunity to say the words "Free Palestine" in large American stadiums. He added that he wanted people from Gaza to the occupied West Bank to know that they had not been forgotten. He connected the speech with the universal idea of safety for children and families, citing his own experience of parenthood and his wish for every child to have the opportunity to grow up without violence. At the second performance on September 5, he also addressed the Jewish audience directly, stressing that he did not consider his political views an attack on Jews. In the same speech, he mentioned Lebanon, Cuba, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, and people in the United States who live in fear of actions by the U.S. immigration agency ICE, thereby attempting to place his message within a broader framework of human rights and opposition to state violence.
Macklemore also used the terms "apartheid" and "genocide" during the performance when speaking about Israeli policy and the war in Gaza. These terms carry extremely strong political and legal weight, and their use in public discourse remains the subject of intense international disputes. In the context of his performance, these were Macklemore's political assessments, not neutral legal classifications made by the concert organizer or Ed Sheeran. The Los Angeles Times notes that the rapper had previously publicly accused Israel over the war in Gaza and that for years he has been among the more visible American musicians who openly support Palestinian rights. It is therefore important to present Macklemore's formulations as his claims and political positions rather than as legally undisputed facts, especially because the characterization of actions in Gaza is the subject of international legal and political disputes.
Petition calls for his removal from the tour
The most concrete reaction following the performances came from the Israeli-American Council, an organization representing the Israeli-American community in the United States. The organization launched a petition directed at Ed Sheeran, the tour management and the venues or stadiums where the tour is scheduled to appear. The petition states that this is an Ed Sheeran concert, not a political rally or protest, and raises the question of where the line lies between a performer's right to hold a political position and the use of someone else's concert platform for a one-sided political message. The IAC called for Macklemore to be removed from the remaining dates on which he is scheduled to appear, as well as for clarification as to whether his speech, visual content and performance of the song "Hind's Hall" had been approved in advance. The organization also called on the tour organizers to establish clearer rules regarding political messages on stage.
Criticism also came from other Jewish organizations. The Los Angeles Times reported that StopAntisemitism and the Anti-Defamation League publicly condemned Macklemore's performance, while some attendees said they had not expected a political speech at a concert headlined by Ed Sheeran. At the same time, CBS New York reported that audience reactions were divided: some attendees criticized Macklemore and called for his removal, while others supported him for using a major stage to express a political position. Such a division shows that the dispute is not only about the substance of his position on Israel and Palestine, but also about the broader question of whether popular music on major commercial tours should also serve as a space for political activism. Political messages are not unusual in the history of popular music, but the conflict intensifies when a performer appears as a guest before an audience that primarily bought tickets to see another artist.
Sheeran has not announced that Macklemore is leaving the tour
As of September 9, there had been no public confirmation that Ed Sheeran had accepted the request to remove Macklemore. On September 8, the Los Angeles Times reported that Sheeran's representative had not immediately responded to a request for comment on the controversy. At the same time, Ed Sheeran's official tour website on September 9 was still listing Macklemore as an opening act at a number of upcoming concerts in the United States. These include performances on September 19 in Philadelphia, September 25 and 26 in Foxborough, October 3 in Atlanta, October 10 in Indianapolis, October 17 in Charlotte, October 24 in Arlington and November 7 in Tampa. Based on that official information, there is currently no confirmation that the tour lineup has been changed because of the petition.
The official MetLife Stadium website confirms that Sheeran's concerts were held on September 4 and 5 and that Lukas Graham and BIIRD were also announced as guests alongside Macklemore. The stadium is located in East Rutherford in the state of New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area, and is one of the largest sports and concert venues in the United States. According to the stadium's own information, its capacity for games is 82,500 seats, while the configuration for concerts varies depending on the production. The size of the venue further amplified the impact of Macklemore's speech: the political message was not delivered at one of his own club shows or at an activist event, but before tens of thousands of people on one of the year's largest pop tours. As a result, recordings of the speech quickly became part of a broader American debate about freedom of artistic expression, the responsibility of organizers and the boundary between political speech and entertainment programming.
"Hind's Hall" was a political song from the beginning
A central part of Macklemore's set was "Hind's Hall", a song he released in May 2024 during a wave of pro-Palestinian student protests in the United States. The song's title refers to Hamilton Hall at Columbia University in New York, a building that protesters symbolically renamed "Hind's Hall" during its occupation in memory of the Palestinian girl Hind Rajab, who was killed in Gaza. Pitchfork reported at the time that Macklemore had directly linked the song to the student movement and announced that he would direct streaming revenue to UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees. UNRWA USA also cites Macklemore's support and proceeds from the song as part of its fundraising campaign in its 2024 annual report. From the very beginning, therefore, "Hind's Hall" was not conceived as a politically neutral song, but as an openly protest-oriented composition.
This is important for understanding why Macklemore did not respond by withdrawing or distancing himself from his words. His performance at MetLife Stadium was a continuation of political engagement that has been ongoing since at least 2023 and 2024, rather than a sudden improvisation completely detached from his public identity. Even before the war in Gaza, Macklemore had used music throughout his career to comment on social and political issues, from LGBT rights to racism, addiction and American politics. In that sense, his defensive response follows his established logic: he argues that an artist should not abandon a message he considers a human rights issue merely because the audience is large or politically diverse. Critics, however, respond that the situation is different when the performer is not the tour's headliner and is part of a program presented to the audience under another artist's name.
The distinction between criticism of Israel and antisemitism is at the center of the dispute
Macklemore's most important response to the criticism was not about his right to speak on stage, but about the claim that criticism of Israel is not the same as hostility toward Jews. That distinction has long been present in debates about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but in practice it is often disputed because different organizations and experts define differently when political speech crosses into demonization, collective blame or antisemitism. On stage, Macklemore tried to draw a clear line: he directed his words toward the state, its policies and military actions, while telling Jewish listeners that he did not consider them the target of his criticism. His opponents believe that the way he talks about Israel, his choice of visual material and the political context of the concert create a one-sided picture that can have wider consequences for the Jewish audience. That is precisely why the controversy cannot be reduced merely to the question of whether someone supports the Israeli or Palestinian side.
Additional sensitivity comes from the fact that the debate is unfolding in the shadow of the war that began after Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. The Los Angeles Times, citing data from Israeli authorities and health institutions in Gaza, states that about 1,200 people were killed in the Hamas attack and 251 people were taken hostage, while more than 73,000 Palestinians had been killed in Israeli operations in Gaza by September 2026, according to the health ministry there. Those figures, as well as the way responsibility, proportionality and the legal characterization of the actions of the warring sides are interpreted, remain part of a highly polarized international debate. In such an environment, a statement by a globally known musician in a stadium does not remain merely part of a concert program, but almost immediately becomes political news. Macklemore was clearly aware of that effect, and his subsequent response showed that he did not intend to abandon the message.
The controversy is now shifting to the question of the tour's responsibility
As the debate over his words continues, the practical question is whether pressure from organizations and part of the audience will affect future performances. For now, the official schedule shows no change. Macklemore remains listed alongside Sheeran at several major stadium concerts during September, October and November, and neither Sheeran nor the tour management has publicly announced a decision to remove the rapper from the program. This means that, for now, the petition represents political and reputational pressure rather than a decision by the organizers. With the next joint concert approaching, any possible change in the schedule or public statement by Sheeran will likely also be interpreted as a response to the broader debate about how much room guest performers have for political messages.
For Macklemore, on the other hand, the response is already fairly clear: he presents his messages as a universalist call for freedom and equality, not as an attack on the Jewish community. His critics do not accept that explanation as sufficient and argue that the content and manner of presentation still carry political responsibility, particularly on the stage of another performer's tour. The controversy from MetLife Stadium is therefore unlikely to end with a debate about a single sentence or a single song. It has turned into a broader dispute about the role of musicians in political conflicts, the limits of artistic freedom and audience expectations on global tours. Until anything different is officially announced, Macklemore remains part of Sheeran's U.S. concert schedule, and his messages about Palestine remain an integral part of the public identity he has chosen to bring even to the largest stadium stages.
Sources:
- Variety - report on Macklemore's response, his address to the Jewish audience and the petition to remove him from the tour (link)
- Los Angeles Times - report on reactions to the performances, Macklemore's post and public criticism from organizations (link)
- CBS News New York - audience reactions and the context of the controversy following the concerts at MetLife Stadium (link)
- Israeli-American Council - petition addressed to Ed Sheeran, the tour management and concert venues (link)
- Ed Sheeran - official tour schedule with the current list of dates on which Macklemore is still listed as a guest (link)
- MetLife Stadium - official confirmation of the September 4 and 5, 2026 concerts and the list of guest performers (link)
- Pitchfork - background to the song "Hind's Hall", its connection to student protests and the announcement that proceeds would be donated to UNRWA (link)
- UNRWA USA - 2024 annual report with information about Macklemore's support and the song "Hind's Hall" (link)